How to make a manure spreader ?

I took it apart and put a few tongue-and-groove oak floor in it over several new frames. That went well. Getting the apron to work took a great deal of doing. I broke a couple of front sprockets until I finally figured out that the whole apron mechanism has to be quite tight not to destroy itself by jamming.

I left the beater off and use the spreader to unload building and yard scrap, with an occasional load of composted manure for the gardens. It's the only piece of equipment on the property that visitors keep trying to buy.

I have about $350 plus a week of work in it. It makes a lousy highway trailer for hauling lumber (wheels out of balance) but works well for applications where there is space for it around the farm. The self-unloading function makes it worth its keep even if used only occasionally.

I definitely wouldn't try to build one from scratch. The forces involved in the apron's operation are too great for improvised gears and pulleys.

Find one with good mechanics and lousy wood, rebuild it and make yourself a quick thousand bucks.

I doubt that you could build a mechanical spreader for less than you could buy one for, unless you already have the mechanical parts that would work. A better idea would be to rebuild a spreader that needs new wood. I have just such a spreader out back, that we dragged home years ago and used a few times cleaning the barn lot. It has been outside for at least 50 years, so most of the wood is ruined. But I believe the mechanical parts could be made to work again pretty easily. Probably there are old manure spreaders around your area too, and maybe you could come up with one to fix up. I bet I could get mine working well for $500 or less. But since I haven't needed to spread manure for years, the machine just sits there.

That old ground driven spreader would toss manure about 10 feet in the air and spread it out in a swath about 15 feet wide, depending on how fast you drove the tractor and how it was adjusted. It was a lot easier than manually forking the goop off the truck. At first, we loaded the spreader with forks and shovels, but then we got the tractor with the trip loader--you really had to get the bucket up high before you tripped it. I didn't a couple of times and whacked the spreader. My Dad wasn't pleased. But soon the job was over and I don't think the spreader was ever used again. I don't think that spreader was built for the shock loads of dumping the bucketfuls of manure with the 9N.

So just how much manure do you need to spread? If it is just a few truckloads, I would just fork it off, it doesn't take that long. If you have a whole bunch, you might advertise it for garden manure and sell it for a few dollars per load and then watch other people work hard hand loading it into their trucks or trailers. If you have a tractor with a loader, you might consider loading it for them (and charging more), but be extremely careful--if you damage their vehicle, you or your parents would probably be liable. Good luck, glad to hear about a young guy that is interested in something besides video games!

You can pick up some old manure spreaders in good shape for 200-400